Poles apart
by Cherryred92
Summary: Two years has passed since the Pharaoh departed to the after-life, its October and everyone has moved on to University. Tea spots a familiar face at the gym, what will happen when the two start spending time together?
1. Hot Cocoa

_CherryRed: Hello everyone, this is my first fanfiction, I apologise for any gramatical errors or spelling errors I may have overlooked.  
Reviews are welcome! This is just a pilot chapter so I would love to know what you think of it.  
This is a Seto X Tea pairing._

I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH!

So on with the first chapter, enjoy!

-

_**Tea p.o.v**_  
Tea floated on her back in the large swimming pool, gently caressing the water with her fingers as she stared up at the high ceiling. It was 8pm, the gym was closing in an hour and it was practically deserted, apart from Tea that is.  
She closed her eyes and tried not to think about the day she'd had, sighing to herself as she failed to forget the words her dance professor had spoken to her earlier that day:  
"_I'm sorry Tea, you're a good dancer you really are, but you're on an average grade and your body shape simply won't allow you to progress further in the field, your smart Tea and I think we both know that you're not going to become a professional dancer any time soon"  
_ She splashed the water angrily as her Professor's words echoed around her head. Swimming towards the side of the pool she grabbed her towel from the edge and climbed out of the pool and rushed towards the showers. The girls changing room was completely empty, grateful for this, she grabbed her shampoo from her locker and proceeded to the shower. Standing under the pitiful trickle of water that the gym showers provided, she grudgingly lathered her shampoo in to her brown hair. Soon the air was filled with the scent of vanilla, Tea's favourite smell. When all the suds had disappeared down the drain, she wrapped her towel around herself again and headed back for her locker. Grabbing all of her belongings she slipped in to one of the changing rooms and began throwing her clothes on quickly, the eeriness of the empty locker room was starting to creep her out a little and she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. When she was finally dressed she flung her gym bag over her shoulder and headed out towards the entrance, her hair was still damp from the shower so the sharp October air was bound to make her ill but she didn't want to hang around the gym any longer.  
Rushing towards the entrance she paused as she saw a familiar figure emerging from the male locker rooms. Tall with damp brown hair, dressed unusually in grey joggers and a white hoodie with a blue gym bag slung over his shoulder was the formidable CEO of Kaiba-Corp, Seto Kaiba. Tea hesitated, should she say hello or should she just go on with her business like she hadn't seen him, after all it had been two years since the duelling days, and two years since the pharaoh had passed over in to the afterlife. Besides, it's not like they were ever friends, if anything Kaiba had made his dislike for her and her friends very clear from the beginning.  
Frowning slightly she decided to just continue through the doors to the outside, the cold air hit her hard and she gasped. She didn't think it would be this cold, cursing herself for not wearing suitable clothes, her pink sports bra and white jogging bottoms was not going to protect her against the cruel October air. Her apartment block was on the other side of town; she would have to get the bus there and that would involve standing at the bus stop in the formidable cold for over half an hour. She sighed, not being able to put it off any longer she decided to set off in to the dark night.

_**Kaiba's p.o.v**__  
_The pitiful stream of water from the shower head descended over his body, the gym was almost closing so the locker room was empty apart from him. Kaiba was glad of this, like he needed any simpletons wondering what Seto Kaiba was doing at this cruddy second rate gym, that's why he always went to the gym at night time, he enjoyed peace and quiet. He had only recently started going to this particular gym because he was interested in taking Kaiba-Corp to the next level, he already owned theme parks and restaurants but he wanted to start investing in fitness. So he was scoping out some of the shabbier gyms around Domino City, finding one he wished to purchase and completely redesign.  
He headed out of the locker room and in to the entrance hall of the gym, his dark blue eyes narrowed as he spotted a familiar face. If it wasn't the cheerleader of the goon squad, he hadn't seen her in 2 years, of course she would go to this gym, the poor wannabe dancer couldn't afford to attend anything better than this dump.  
She was looking out in to the dark October night, he couldn't be sure if she had even seen him or not, she looked apprehensive, probably about the cold air. With good reason too, considering all she was wearing was a pair of white jogging bottoms and a pink sports bra. Her stomach was completely on display, her skin was pale like porcelain but her muscle she had gained from years of dancing was obvious, she was slender and toned. Her hair was damp, and she'd pulled it up in to a high pony tail of some sort. Kaiba snorted, if she wanted to go out dressed like that then she was a fool, she would get pneumonia from the freezing air. He watched her leave the building and exited after her, his black limo was out front waiting for him, he climbed in to the back seat.  
His driver glanced at him through the rear-view mirror: "Good work out Mr Kaiba?"  
Kaiba nodded curtly, he was not one to converse with his overly chatty staff, no matter how often they tried to make conversation. The engine started up and the car pulled away.

_**Tea p.o.v**__  
_Tea watched the sleek limo drive away in to the distance, she wondered about what it must be like to have so much money, drivers and maids and people just rushing to your beck and call. She knew that Kaiba had achieved his success on his own, taking over his adoptive fathers company and transforming it into the multibillion dollar gaming company it was today, branching out in to food service and even creating his own theme parks. Kaiba had made a name for himself and he had done it on his own.  
As she walked down the street she shivered and watched as her breath fogged in to the air, damn it was cold. She thought about her dancing, she had always wanted to be a dancer since she was a little girl. Her parents were both doctors and heavily disagreed with her choice of career, so she had decided to reach it on her own terms. She studies at Domino University and works part time at Burger express to cover her rent for her cosy one bedroom apartment.  
Over an hour later, Tea was finally walking up the front pavement to reach the entrance of her apartment building. It was now almost 9 o'clock and her cheeks stung from the icy air. Her hands were frozen so she fumbled a little with her key as she unlocked her apartment door, once inside she quickly locked the door and pulled the chain lock across, she was aware she didn't exactly live in a safe neighbourhood but she could afford it and that's what mattered. Her heating dial was on the wall, in order to save money she had been putting on more layers as opposed to the heating, but tonight she was so cold she switched on the heater to full. Once inside her bedroom she peeled off her gym clothes and tossed them in to her small washing basket. It was already overflowing with clothes, she sighed.  
"I could really do with some maid service right about now" she muttered to herself. She climbed in to a pair of fluffy pyjamas and went in to the kitchen to make herself a cup of cocoa. Putting the kettle on to boil she glanced out of her kitchen window, she could see the huge Kaiba Corp building in the distance, shaking her head she prepared her cocoa and went back in to her bedroom. Double checking her front door was locked before clambering in to her warm bed, she lay staring up at the ceiling in the darkness. Before she knew it she had drifted off in to a troubled sleep, that night she dreamt of dark blue eyes while her cocoa remained cold and untouched.


	2. Frosty air

_Hello everyone!  
This is the second chapter of Poles Apart.  
I really hope you enjoy it and reviews are much appreciated!  
Anything that you guys would like to see happen or anything that you think  
needs to be improved on, just let me know._

I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

-

**_Tea pov_**

Tea awoke with a start; she glanced at her alarm clock and groaned. It wasn't even 7am yet, unable to fall back sleep she decided to just get out of bed.  
Sitting on the edge of the mattress she stretched and yawned loudly, out of the corner of her eye she spotted her untouched, now icy cold, cocoa from the night before. She frowned, "what a waste" she thought to herself.  
Carrying it in to the kitchen she watched the chocolatey liquid spiral down the drain and thought about the dream she had last night, those beautiful dark blue eyes that she couldn't seem to get out of her head. She shook herself mentally, "all the stress of dancing is obviously gone to my head" she muttered to herself before heading in to her bathroom for a shower. All too soon she was rushing out of her front door to get to the dance studio at the university campus.

The morning passed without much drama, her Professor seemed impressed to see that Tea had not given up and had returned to the dance studio that next day, regardless of the talking they had had the day before. But as she walked to her favorite little coffee house Tea pondered more about her dancing career, it was true she was a little curvier than the average dancer, but she had tried her hardest to not let it hold her back. She sighed; maybe she should just give up and find a new dream. She entered the charming little coffee shop and was greeted with a wave of warmth and the smell of freshly ground coffee beans, she was grateful to be inside, the ground had started to frost over outside and she couldn't risk tripping over and injuring herself, not when her dance future was already hanging by a thread.  
She ordered her usual, although she appreciated the scent of coffee she never drank it herself and settled for a cup of hot English tea. Turning around to try and locate a table she froze as she spotted someone sat in the back corner of the crowded room.

**_Kaib_**_**a pov**_

Kaiba sipped his coffee and continued typing furiously on his laptop; he looked up briefly and paused as he noticed a girl stood staring at him from across the room. This was the second time he had seen her in the space of two days and frankly it was rather irritating. He groaned inwardly and watched as she headed straight for the seat opposite him, she placed her bag on the floor and sat eyeing him intently. He stared back coldly, "may I help you with something?" he asked through gritted teeth. She frowned, obviously displeased.  
"There weren't any other spare seats" she replied.  
"Couldn't have taken your coffee to go?" he retorted unkindly, a slight smirk on his face. She appeared unfazed and merely shrugged before stating: "it's cold outside and its tea actually." He chose to ignore her and went back to typing, he could feel her eyes boring in to his head and snapped the lid of his laptop closed irritably.  
"What exactly do you want Gardner?" he asked nastily.  
She merely stared at him and he noticed how big and blue her eyes were, not the dark blue like his, but an aquamarine blue. She had long black eyelashes and a faint hint of pink in her cheeks from the cold outside. She was actually quite breath-taking. He slapped himself mentally, "what am I thinking?" he thought angrily.  
She started playing with a small hole in her gloves before glancing back up at him, "I saw you last night at the gym" she admitted.  
He faked a hurt expression, "and you didn't want to speak to me, I'm crushed" he simpered sarcastically. She gave him an angry glare before enquiring what he was doing at that gym. It was true; he could afford to have his own personal gym if he really wanted to. He regarded her for a moment.  
"I've decided to expand my company in to fitness, I want to take over a gym, I've been researching some of the more, erm, _shabbier_ gyms in town and I like the look of that one" he explained simply.  
She looked impressed, but remained silent.  
"So, are you still number 1 fan of the nerd herd then?" he enquired.  
Her calm features suddenly became livid, "don't you call them that Kaiba, they are my friends, and yes we still hang out, I'm going to meet them tonight actually" she replied firmly.  
"Let me guess, little Yugi is going to be playing duel monsters with that second rate Wheeler, while you and Tristen cheer from the side lines?" he sneered.  
"Actually Kaiba, I've invited them to my house for a horror movie marathon, with it being Halloween next week and all" she informed him. He shook his head and glared out the window. What she said next took him by surprise:  
"you could stop by if you want".  
He laughed loudly, "oh yeah, sure I'd love to" he howled sarcastically.  
Tea just shrugged, "fine, I was just being polite anyway, I forgot you only hang around with yourself because you're too much of a jerk to have friends" and with that she stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder, "see you around Kaiba".  
He watched her leave the little coffee shop and furiously opened his laptop again and began typing, "I don't need friends, I'm Seto Kaiba" he thought to himself irritably.

**_Tea_** **_pov_**

Tea was shocked, had she really just invited Seto Kaiba to her movie night? What was wrong with her! She scolded herself mentally but then composed herself, "it doesn't matter anyway, I didn't even give him my address" she thought, this putting her mind at ease as she headed home. She had a 4 hour shift at Burger Express and had to get changed in to her uniform. As she let herself in to her apartment she headed in to the living room and threw her keys on the coffee table, her answering machine was flashing red. She had four new messages; she let them play as she prepared herself a bowl of chicken noodles. The first one was from Joey: "Hiya Tea! So sorry but I have to cancel on tonight, I got a report due tomorrow and I completely forgot about it until now, I'll make it up to ya!" as the message ended Tea snorted, leave it to Joey to forget about an assignment until the day before it was due.  
The next message started playing and she recognised Yugi's high voice: "Hi Tea, erm, I'm really sorry but I can't make it tonight, Grandpa needs someone to look after the shop and I'm the only who can, I'm really sorry, bye!"  
Tea was starting to get really annoyed and she had a funny feeling who the next two messages would be from. Sure enough the air was soon filled with the sounds of Tristen and Bakura's apologies, they couldn't make it and we're really sorry. Tea was furious, all of her friends had cancelled on her and she had already bought the popcorn and snacks, she even got a few beers in!  
"Well, I'll just have to have a movie marathon by myself then" she muttered out loud. She glanced at her watch, realising she only had an hour to get to work she bolted down her noodles, quickly changed in to her uniform and rushed off to Burger express, still fuming to herself on the way.

**_Kaiba pov  
_**  
Kaiba was stood in his office staring out of the window; he wasn't looking at anything in particular, his thoughts were elsewhere.  
Tea had annoyed him, more so than she usually did, by what she had said about him not having friends. He knew he didn't have friends, his abrupt and rude manner didn't make him popular amongst many people, but that was the way he liked it. He was the CEO for his own company, and CEO's don't have time for friends. So why couldn't he get that stupid little girl out of his head?  
He banged his fist angrily against the window, "how dare she speak to me like that!" he fumed. Even though he was furious, a small part of him was actually considering taking her up on the offer and joining her for a 'movie night' or whatever it was she had said. He shook his head sharply, "I've officially lost my mind, like I don't have anything better to do than hanging around with her and her little gang of freaks" he thought to himself bitterly. He sat behind his desk and put his head in his hands, then after a few moments he pressed one of the many buttons on his desk and a voice crackled through the speaker instantly:  
_"Yes Mr Kaiba?" _ the voice crooned.  
"I need you to get me someone's address" he stated sharply.  
"_Of course Mr Kaiba, what's the name?" _  
Kaiba paused, "Tea Gardner".


	3. Roller Blades and Pretzels

_Okay guys, here's chapter 3.  
I hope your all enjoying the story so far!  
I apologise for any grammatical errors or spelling errors or any other errors.._

I do not own Yu-gi-oh!

Without further ado- on with the chapter.._****_

Tea Pov.

"Gardner, table 3 needs cleaning down and table 8 are still waiting on chilli fries, do those and THEN you can go home!" her boss's shrill voice echoed from the kitchen. Grumbling to herself she grabbed the cleaning supplies and rolled over to table 3. Burger Express was an American style diner; all the staff was required to roll around on 4 wheel roller blades wearing pink dresses with little white aprons tied around their waists. She was supposed to finish work at 6 but it was half past now and she was still here, that didn't surprise her much, her boss was cheap and a complete ass. While she was thinking about this she failed to notice the pool of soda on the floor near the table she was cleaning. She rolled right over it and lost her balance, causing her to fall on her butt in the middle of the restaurant. A couple of customers giggled, Tea ignored them and pushed herself back on to her feet. Pulling off her apron irritably she shouted towards the kitchen: "Mr Pitman I'm leaving, see you Thursday!" and without a backward glance she rolled out of the diner. In her haste to leave she realised she had left her jacket and change of shoes in her locker at work, not wanting to head back and face her boss she decided to just forget it and roller blade home instead. The air was crisp and chilly; it was already starting to get dark outside, the hairs on her arms stood on end furiously. She rubbed them and picked up the pace as she roller bladed across the streets of Domino. When she finally reached her apartment she switched the shower on instantly, she smelled like fried food and there was a baked bean stain on her dress from when a snot nosed brat decided his beans would look better splatted on her instead of on his plate. She placed her uniform in the, now completely overflowing, clothes basket. "Damn, got to remember to wash those" she thought to herself. She pulled her hair out of its bun and stepped under the shower, although she would be spending the night alone she wasn't too bothered anymore, she would change in to some sweats and curl up on the couch under a blanket with all the snacks and beers. She wasn't in class tomorrow and wasn't working either so she could stay up slightly later than usual. After her shower she padded in to her room and started up her blow dryer, quickly drying her hair. With that she threw on some blue jogging bottoms and matching blue zip up sweater and headed to the living room. She looked at what films she had at her disposal, thinking of one she should watch first when the loud sound of her doorbell rang throughout the apartment.

**_Kaiba pov_**

"What on earth am I doing" Kaiba thought to himself irritably. He was stood outside of Gardner's apartment door, he had rang the doorbell twice and she still hadn't answered. He looked around the deserted hallway, wondering whether he was going to get mugged when suddenly the front door opened a little and Tea's bright blue eyes were regarding him through the tiniest gap in the door. He heard her gasp; he cleared his throat awkwardly before giving her an icy stare.  
"Well are you going to invite me in or do you want me to stand out here all night?" he asked stiffly. She quickly shut the door and he heard her scraping the chain lock back, "at least she has some sense of security" he thought to himself. When she flung open the door she was staring at him with her arms folded, "what brings you here Kaiba?" she asked.  
"As I recalled, you invited me, now can I come in?" he snapped.  
She stepped aside and he stormed in to the apartment, he noted how small it was. He easily located the living room and stood regarding the scene in front of him. The other geeks weren't here, he couldn't be early surely, it was almost 8 o'clock, frowning he turned to Tea.  
"Where are the other losers?" he asked.  
"They cancelled on me, so I was just going to have the movie night by myself, if I would have known you were going to actually come then I would have told you not to bother" she retorted.  
Kaiba folded his arms, "well I'm here now aren't I, I didn't come all this way just to go home so I might as well stay", and with that he took a seat on her sofa. "Alright fine, the movies are on the coffee table so you can pick the first one we watch if you like, I'll grab the snacks" she said coolly. He watched her leave the living room and heard her rustling around in the kitchen. He exhaled and laid his head back on the sofa, "what are you doing Kaiba" he thought to himself furiously. He noticed the DVD's that Tea had mentioned and flicked through them, he didn't watch horror movies, hell he rarely watched any movies. He picked up one that looked slightly promising and set it aside.

**_Tea pov_**

Tea grabbed the beers out of the fridge and placed them on her counter, she started opening bags of crisps and pretzels and began pouring them out in to large plastic bowls. Seto Kaiba was sat in her living room; they were going to have a movie night, just the two of them. She couldn't even believe it; she was nervous for some unknown reason and more annoyed than ever with the other guys for cancelling on her. She didn't even want to know how he had gotten hold of her address, or why he had turned up in the first place. She mused over all of this while she prepared the rest of the food. Carrying it all back in to the living room she placed it all on the coffee table, trying not to make eye contact with Kaiba. She picked up his chosen DVD and went over to the television, inserted it into the DVD player and grabbed the remote.  
She paused, "lights on or off?" she asked him.  
"Isn't it customary to watch scary movies with the lights off?" he replied, sneering slightly. Tea went to say something sarcastic but held her tongue, she wanted them to be civil and get along. She flipped the light switch off and flopped on to the couch next to Kaiba and pressed play. They watched the movie in silence, Tea risked a few glanced at Kaiba every now and again, she couldn't really see his face that well because it was dark but she thought he looked a little scared of the movie. Smirking to herself she pulled her legs up underneath her and reached over to the bowl of pretzels, at that exact moment Kaiba had also reached for the bowl and their figures brushed against each other. Tea withdrew her hand as though she had been given an electric shock; Kaiba also looked a little surprised at the contact. They stared at each other for a while before Kaiba shook his head and turned his attention back to the movie; Tea did the same but couldn't stop thinking about that brief touch between them. She felt something strange when it happened; it was like a current travelled between their skins. She shivered a little, wondering what Kaiba was thinking.

_**Kaiba pov**__  
_  
Kaiba focused his gaze at the movie, but wasn't even taking in what he was seeing. Had she felt it too? That feeling when their fingers had touched, he had never felt anything like that before. He risked a sideways glance at her and saw she was completely focused on the movie; obviously he was just overreacting about the situation. He didn't find her attractive at all, did he? Granted her porcelain skin looked soft and her hair was thick and shiny and her eyes were breath-taking. She had the most wonderful scent too, it smelled like vanilla and wasn't too overpowering. He stopped his train of thought before it could carry on; he scolded himself in his head. "Your Seto Kaiba, get a grip!" he thought to himself furiously. Finally the credits for the movie started to appear on the screen, he wasn't even sure what had happened in the ending, he was too busy having an internal battle with himself. He watched Tea jump up and turn the lights on; he also rose out of his seat and cleared his throat.  
"Well, that was a waste of my time so I best be going now" he said stonily. He needed to get out of there. Tea just shook her head, "you know you had fun" she teased.  
Kaiba grimaced and strode towards the front door, Tea hurrying along behind him. "Wait!" she exclaimed, he paused in the hallway, watching as she grabbed a pen from the little stand next door her front door.  
He watched curiously and gasped as she grabbed his hand and wrote down some numbers on his palm, he snatched his hand away glaring at her.  
"What's this?" he demanded.  
She smiled, "it's just my phone number silly, so we can meet up again sometime." He looked at her coldly, "What exactly makes you think I want to 'do this again sometime'?" he inquired. Tea shrugged, "I had fun, you secretly had fun, what's the harm right?" she asked. He studied her for a moment before turning on his heel and walked out, slamming the front door behind him. Once outside he leaned against the wall in Tea's hallway, smiling slightly to himself.

**_Tea pov_**

Tea leaned her forehead against the front door after pulling the chain lock across, she wasn't entirely sure why she had just given Kaiba her number or where this whole thing was going to lead but, although she didn't want to admit it, she was rather excited to find out.


	4. The Domino Halloween Party

_**Okay everyone, here is chapter 4, the Halloween chapter!  
Again, apologies if I have made any errors.  
Please review and tell me what you think of the story!**_

I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH!  
I also do not own the lyrics or the song "canned heat" by Jamiroquai.

Let the chapter commence!

Kaiba pov

He stared down at the fading ink on his palm, he was going to wash it off last night after he had left Tea's, but had decided to just keep it there for a while. A voice coming from the speaker on his desk startled him out of his thoughts.  
_"Mr Kaiba, sir?" _ His assistant was so irritating some times. _  
_"What is it Lena?" he snapped angrily.  
_"Mr Kaiba your personal shopper is here, she wants to know if you have any preferences on your Halloween costume"._  
Halloween, it was so trivial that it had completely slipped his mind, the annual Domino City Halloween party was this Saturday and as a well-known CEO of one of the major companies in Domino, his attendance was expected. Perhaps he should take a date this year, he shook his head. That was out of the question, who on earth would want to take to the Halloween party. Except maybe Gardner…  
"_Mr Kaiba, are you still there?"  
_Lena's voice snapped him back to the present, "yes I'm still here, tell her to come up with a damn good costume this year, also will you get me Tea Gardner on the line" he asked curtly.  
_"Right away sir"  
_His assistant was in charge of his contact list, he added Tea himself this morning, and his assistant probably thought this was curious of him, but wouldn't dare question him about it.

_**Tea**_ _**pov  
**_  
Tea was shocked out of her day dream by the buzzing coming from her pocket; taking out her mobile she glanced at the caller ID. She didn't recognise the number at all, deciding to answer it anyway she brought it up to her ear.  
"Yellow?" she asked cheerfully.  
"Do you always answer the phone in such a childish manner" a cold voice replied. Her heart beat increased a little bit, how strange.  
"Do you always start phone calls in such a rude manner?" she replied, she could here Kaiba titter on the other end of the line before he eventually asked: "As your probably aware the Domino City Halloween party is this Saturday and I just wanted to know if you had plans that evening?"  
Tea was taken aback, was this Kaiba asking her on a date, she raked her brain trying to remember whether or not she had plans.  
"Are you going to answer me or just keep me waiting all afternoon" Kaiba snapped impatiently.  
"I don't have plans" she quickly replied. Kaiba paused, "well since you have nothing better to do, would you like to accompany me to the Halloween party?" he asked briskly. Tea grinned to herself, "Mr Kaiba, are you asking me on a date?" she asked playfully.  
She could practically feel his cold glare through the phone.  
"Do you wanted to come or not?" he sighed. Tea thought about it for a brief moment before replying: "I would love to, now if you don't mind I have to go shopping for a costume, bye bye Kaiba!" and, still grinning like an idiot, she hung up on him. She felt a little giddy, she loved Halloween parties, dressing up and being something else for a night was what she loved about the holiday.  
She checked her watch, it was only 2pm and the shopping centre didn't shut till 5oclock, quickly grabbing her coat and purse she headed out of her front door, humming as she went.

**_Kaiba_**_** pov  
**_  
Kaiba stared at the receiver for a little while before placing it back in its cradle. He wasn't sure exactly what he was doing, taking that cheerleader to the party was insane he knew that, but at the same time he could feel a new emotion creeping in on him. What was that? Excitement perhaps, well whatever it was it made his stomach feel strange and made his heart rate increase. Perhaps he was sick and needed medical attention he thought to himself seriously. He went back to the papers on his desk but with a slight smile on his face.

_**-Saturday night-**_

_**Tea pov  
**_  
she viewed herself in the mirror, she had spent hours perfecting her costume and only now did she feel like she was finally ready. Her costume was a floor length red silk gown and it clung to her body and complimented her curves. She had curled all of her hair and applied liberal amounts of hairspray and it bounced on her shoulders. She applied white costume makeup to her already pale face and neck, before applying dark eye shadow and false eyelashes. She painted her lips with an inviting red lipstick and stepped back to admire the effect. Before she could forget she slipped her "vampire teeth" in her mouth, they felt strange at first and took her a little while to get used to. She practiced talking and laughing with them in her mouth until she could talk perfectly without wanting to spit the false teeth out. She threaded a black wrap through the crook in her arms and around her back and grabbed her purse, stood in the hallway nervously waiting for her 'date' to arrive. All too soon there was a sharp knock on her door and she took a deep breath and opened the front door.

**_Kaiba pov_**

Kaiba stared, it's all he could do, and he was completely stunned. Tea looked incredible, she was wearing a red silk dress that went all the way to floor, it clung to her body in all the right places, her usually straight hair was arranged in to a mass of bouncy curls, her face deathly pale and her eyes dark and inviting. Her lips an alluring shade of candy-apple red, she smiled nervously at him, revealing little pointed white teeth which he assumed were fake.  
"You look fantastic" he admitted, he watched her cheeks flush pink under her white makeup. "Why thank you, so do you" she replied nervously.  
His personal shopper had arranged his entire outfit, which mostly consisted of a black three piece suit and a lot of white makeup. It would appear that they were a vampire couple, and even Kaiba had to admit that they both looked pretty damn good.  
He cleared his throat and composed his face in to his usual steely reserve.  
"Shall we go then?" he asked impatiently.  
Tea hurried out the door, locking it behind her and following him out in to the night where he had his limo waiting. He slid in first and she followed him gracefully. She sat pretty close to him and this made him very nervous.  
Finally the limo pulled up in front of Domino city hall, Kaiba stepped outside the limo first and Tea followed close behind. She slipped her arm in the crook of his, his first response was to pull away but he found that he didn't really want to. They both headed inside the building which was alive with flashing lights and loud music.

_**Tea pov**_

Domino City Hall looked incredible, it had been decorated for the festivities and was full of fake cobwebs, giant pumpkins, skeletons and other Halloween decorations. Everyone was dressed up, people on the dance floor dancing happily to the loud music and many more people sat at the tables around the room, laughing and having a good time.  
She glanced up at Kaiba grinning excitedly; she was shocked to see he smiled at her in response. She doesn't think she's ever seen Kaiba give a genuine smile before, it was usually a smirk or a sneer. Kaiba steered her towards the bar, cutting in front of everyone else waiting, all Tea could do was observe him intently as he clicked his fingers at the bartender, who rushed over to serve him instantly. Before she knew it she had an iced cold drink in front of her with a miniature orange and black umbrella sticking out of it. She sipped it tentatively, it had the bitter taste of cranberry's with a sweet hint of strawberries but she could taste the vodka underneath, it was delicious.  
She allowed Kaiba to navigate them over to an empty table and she sat down next to him, they sat in silence for a while sipping their drinks. She watched everyone on the dance floor, with her new found Dutch courage she jumped up. Kaiba appeared startled and she grabbed his hand before shouting over the music: "come on, let's dance!" and with that she dragged the daunting CEO to the centre of the packed dance floor. She recognised the song, it was 'canned heat' by Jamiroquai and she loved it, before she knew it she was totally lost in the song. She twirled and shimmied on the floor, bursting out laughing at Kaiba's formidable expression, grasping his hands she pulled him close.  
_Dance! Nothing left for me to do but dance!  
_She could see Kaiba laughing as he spun her around and they started moving to the same rhythm.  
_All these bad times I'm going through, just dance!  
_She smiled at the carefree expression on Kaiba's face, he really was quite beautiful. Once the song had ended they left the dance floor and back to their seats, Kaiba disappeared off to the bar to get them another round of drinks.

**_Kaiba_**_** pov  
**_  
He ordered another round for him and Tea, he hated to admit it to himself but he was having a really nice time. Tea was so light hearted, it was hard to be his usual stern and cold self around someone so care free, someone so beautiful.  
He took their drinks back to the table and watched as Tea sipped hers quickly, obviously thirsty from the dancing.  
He regarded her for a moment before admitting: "I'm having a really fun time".  
Her large blue eyes gazed at him for a moment, "so am I" she replied, giving him a genuine smile. The final notes of the current song ended and a new song replaced it, it was slow paced and melodic, people on the dance floor were pairing off together and starting to slow dance. Even in the dark he could see Tea's shining eyes look wistfully at the dance floor. Before he could even stop himself he stood up and offered his hand to her. He could see the look of surprise on her face, but he just smirked inwardly. They made their way to the floor and he pulled her close, wrapping his hand around her waist and they slowly rotated on the spot. _  
_She had her head resting against his chest and his head was resting against the top of hers. She looked up at him and smiled, he returned the smile, their faces where close, almost within touching distance, he saw her eyes flick to his lips and his heart started hammering. He started moving closer, until-  
the song suddenly ended and everyone started clapping. They both pulled away from each other and he could see the disappointment in her eyes, but she covered it up well and they both headed back to the table to enjoy the rest of the evening.


	5. Chinese food and awkward silences

_Hi everyone!_  
_I really wanted to update this for ages but I've been so busy with work!_  
_Funny story too, I was walking along the street and found two yu-gi-oh cards on the floor so I took this  
as a sign that i had to get this chapter uploaded soon!_  
_Anyway guys as always my apologies for any errors, grammatical or otherwise.  
I hope you enjoy this chapter and pretty please review!_  
_xoxoxo_

I do not own Yu-gi-oh!  


* * *

It had been weeks since the Halloween party and Kaiba was once again stood in his office staring out the window. He couldn't decide what he was angrier about: the fact that he had almost kissed one of Yugi's geeky gang or the fact that he didn't actually end up kissing her. He leaned against the glass, staring out at the street below, his mind wandered to the memory of that night. They were so close, their lips inches away from each other, his heart started pounding at the very thought of it. He felt something strange deep in the pit of his stomach, frowning to himself he turned his back on the window and sat down at his desk. He hadn't actually spoken to Tea since the Halloween party, he had dropped her off at her apartment, they had shared a brief goodbye but that was it. He frowned, was he disappointed that nothing more had happened?  
"Don't be stupid Kaiba, she's nothing to you" he said to himself, but he still couldn't shake that strange feeling in his stomach. He glanced at his watch, it was getting late, it was slowly getting dark outside and the sky was tinged with pinks and blues. His assistant's voice startled him out of his thoughts.  
_"Mr Kaiba sir, you have a visitor" _  
"What do they want?" he snapped irritably.  
His, now nervous, assistant's voice floated back through the intercom on his desk: "_She says she's here to see you",  
_"Well who is it?" he asked through gritted teeth.  
A slight pause and his assistant's shaky voice replied: "_It's Tea Gardner, sir"  
_Kaiba felt his heart summersault in his chest, clearing his throat he buzzed the intercom twice to let his assistant know that his visitor was allowed through.  
The door opened and Tea stood in front of him, she had obviously been to the gym because she was in white jogging bottoms, a grey sports bra with a black zip up hoodie. She had arranged her shoulder length hair into two dainty pig tails and she still looked breath-taking.  
Leaning against his desk he raised an eyebrow at her quizzically.  
"What are you doing here?" he asked.  
"I came to see you, I figured you hadn't ate yet so I brought Chinese" she replied, holding up the large plastic bag she was holding. Awkward silence hung in the air, Kaiba wasn't sure what to make of the situation, but he was pleased that she was here. No! He was angry that she had interrupted him while he was at work.  
"I wasn't sure what you liked so I basically got lots of House special curry because that has a bit of everything in it, noodles, chips, sticky ribs, oh and prawn crackers because they were free" she rambled. She straightened up and looked at him uncertainly.  
He cleared his throat and pressed the intercom on his desk.  
"Lena, you may leave for the evening" he said briskly.  
A slight pause and then:  
"_Yes Mr Kaiba, good night sir"._

A little while later they were both sat crossed legged on the floor, eating Chinese and watching the sky darken out of his floor length windows.  
He watched her eat, she took dainty bites out of her food and he stifled a laugh as she failed to eat the sticky ribs without smearing the sauce over her face.  
"Stop laughing at me" she snapped at him, wiping her face on a napkin.  
"It's not my fault you can't eat like a civilised human" he retorted. He edged towards her, "you can't even mop up your face properly", lightly dabbing the edge of her mouth with a napkin.  
Their eyes met, her large aquamarine ones studying his cold blue ones, they seemed to stay like this for what seemed like hours before Tea broke away and stared out of the window awkwardly.  
Kaiba fumed silently in his head, there it was again, another moment when it had felt like every fibre in his body was screaming at him to kiss her, and he didn't. He stabbed a particularly fat prawn with his fork, what was wrong with him?

Tea carried on staring out of the window, trying to pull her thoughts together. She was sure that Kaiba had felt it too, that unknown force, pulling them together, wanting them to kiss, but it still hadn't happened.  
She wasn't even sure if she wanted it to happen, he was Seto Kaiba:  
arrogant, sarcastic, nasty, tall, attractive, sexy..  
She shook her head, horrified at the direction her wayward thoughts had went.  
She glanced up at him slyly; she tried not to laugh as she watched him impaling a prawn on his plate. The tension in the air was unbearable, clearing her throat she decided to start up conversation.  
"So, Christmas is right around the corner" she stated awkwardly.  
She watched as Kaiba looked up at her, his usual cold look back in his eyes and the sneer on his lips.  
"A silly holiday, manipulated by the media to sponge as much money from the public as possible, nothing but fake snow and spoilt brats" he stated briskly.  
Tea wasn't surprised, she could hardly imagine Kaiba dressing up as Santa Clause and singing Christmas carols, she grinned at the mental image.  
"Oh well Bah Humbug to you!" she teased before carrying on, "I love Christmas, everything about it, the coldness, the atmosphere, the decorations, the cookies!" she sighed blissfully.  
"Well it doesn't surprise me, you're just the type to enjoy such a stupid holiday" Kaiba sneered in response.  
She ignored the quip and went back to her food before carrying on:  
"It's the 1st of December tomorrow, I'll have to dig out all of my decorations and get my apartment all sorted" she rambled excitedly.  
She saw Kaiba roll his eyes but shrugged it off.  
"The boxes are pretty heavy and it is more of a two person job so…maybe we could decorate it together?" she asked tentatively, looking anywhere but in to those dark blue eyes, he didn't respond so she carried on quickly "I mean, it's totally fine if you don't want to, of course you said you don't like Christmas so it was a stupid suggestion" she trailed off.  
She glared out the window; she was such an idiot, inviting Kaiba to put up her Christmas decorations with her? How pathetic.  
"Well, I suppose if the boxes are really heavy then I'll have no choice will I?" she heard the cold response; she looked up at him quickly. He looked annoyed but she could see the humour in his eyes. She grinned at him, popping a large prawn in to her mouth triumphantly.

Kaiba piled the empty food cartons in to his garbage can; he wasn't too concerned about the mess, after all the cleaners would be arriving soon. Tea had gone home, excitedly rambling about the joys of the festive period as he walked her out of his office. He smiled to himself; she would be expecting him to arrive at her apartment tomorrow to help with the decorations.  
He couldn't believe he had actually agreed to it, he hated Christmas, everything about it was so cliché, but Tea seemed eager for him to help.  
He was just doing her a favour, he didn't actually want to go, and he was just being a friend.  
He sighed, he knew it wasn't true, truth was he did want to go and help her, he'd use anything as an excuse to spend more time with her and the word friend seemed so alien to him. He didn't want her as a friend; he wasn't even entirely sure what he wanted her as. He glanced out his window, the sky was now entirely black and Domino city twinkled below him. Hands in his pockets, he turned his back on the city and strode out of his office.


	6. Tree toppers and close calls

_Hi guys, I'm sorry I haven't been uploading as much as I would like to, I'm currently in the process of moving in to a new flat so I've been busy busy!  
I really hope you're enjoying the story so far, any feedback is always appreciated.  
Sorry for any mistakes I may have made, please review and enjoy!  
I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. _

* * *

Tea groaned, light was flooding in through a gap in her curtains and her alarm clock was making the most infernal noise. She reached over and slammed her fist down to silence it. She withdrew her hand and burrowed herself under the covers, she was cosy and warm in her bed and it was cold out there!  
But, she was expecting someone so she knew she had to face the cold eventually.  
Grumbling angrily she swung her legs out of bed and padded to the bathroom. She stepped in to the shower, the hot water hammering down on her head.  
Kaiba was just coming round to help put up the decorations; it's no big deal right? Joey and the rest of the boys helped her for the last 2 years; she smiled at the memory of them all throwing tinsel over each other and Joey chasing Tristen around her apartment after he had stolen his Red Eyes Black Dragon card. Her smile faded slightly, that was when Yami was still with them, before he had moved on in to the afterlife. She started lathering shampoo in to her brown tresses, the smell of vanilla filling the air. Closing her eyes she remembered the last conversation she had with the Pharaoh, they were on the boat on the way to his final resting place and she had went to see Yugi in his room and the spirit had taken over so she could say goodbye properly.  
_  
"It has really been an honour getting to know you over the past few years Tea" the Pharaoh's velvety tones drifted over to her. She had her back to him, determinedly staring out of the window.  
"Yeah, same" she replied shortly.  
She was upset that he was leaving, there was no denying it, and over the time she had gotten to know him she had developed a mix of emotions towards him.  
She heard him stand up and move across the room, he was now stood right behind her. She closed her eyes, breathing out before turning to face him. She had never gotten used to how much different Yami was to Yugi, it baffled her how when he took over Yugi's body he was taller, more confident, his eyes were fierce and his voice was deep and rough.  
"I know your upset, but I have to leave, you know I do Tea" he spoke quietly.  
She felt the tears pool in her eyes but she blinked them away fiercely.  
"I'll never forget you though, you've truly been amazing" he carried on.  
She shook her head, "Stop it" she whispered.  
He took a few steps towards her, their faces just inches away and he brushed his lips gently against hers. The tears pooled over her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, she closed her eyes as his hand stroked away her tears._

Tea watched the water swirl away down the drain, she wasn't sure why she was thinking about that night. It happened two years ago, it was about time she let it go. She shook her head determinedly and started lathering shower gel over her body. Once she was clean she stepped out of the shower and started towel drying herself, grabbing another towel to wrap around her head. She quickly brushed her teeth and skipped in to her room, she pulled on her comfiest pair of jeans. They also were her favourite pair because they hugged her figure and complimented her legs. When she was finally dressed she began styling her hair and applying her makeup.  
She heard her doorbell go and looked at herself in the mirror determinedly, "here we go" she said out loud.

Kaiba stood waiting for Tea to answer the door, he was unsure what to expect, he had never put up Christmas decorations before, and he was excited despite himself. The door opened and Tea stood facing him, dressed casually in jeans and a grey sweater. He followed her in to the living room and took his long white trench coat off, tossing it on the back of the sofa before sitting down and crossing his arms, staring at Tea expectantly.  
She didn't look even slightly abashed at his behaviour; she was obviously used to his brisk manner by now.  
Tea clapped her hands together, "alrighty, all of the decorations are in the closet so if you want to grab those and I'll put some music on!" and with that she rushed over to her stereo and began flicking through some CD's.  
Kaiba got to his feet and wandered to the closet outside of the living room, he opened it and spotted a load of boxes labelled with "Christmas decorations". Smirking he started hoisting them in to the living room, the sounds of "rocking around the Christmas tree" was blaring from the speakers and Tea started unpacking the boxes as soon as he dumped them on the floor.  
"So what now?" he asked her.  
Tea jumped up holding a garland of tinsel, "now, we have some fun and put up some decorations!" she stated excitedly.

Tea laughed as Kaiba wrestled her Christmas tree upright in the living room; once it was up she started hanging the baubles and ornaments on its branches, ignoring Kaiba's occasional sarcastic statements.  
Together they wrapped the lights and tinsel around the tree, listening to the music and just having a fun time together, well Tea was anyway, she wasn't entirely sure about Kaiba.  
"Okay, time for the tree topper!" she said eagerly, pulling out a large gold star from the decorations box.  
"Oh of course" Kaiba retorted sarcastically.  
"I'm going to ignore your sarcasm Mr Scrooge" she teased, stepping on a chair, she reached up to place the star atop of the tree.

Kaiba watched Tea reaching up to put the plastic star on top of the tree, he couldn't help but let his eyes wander over her legs then a little higher and glanced at her bum, he quickly looked away, but then sneaked another look.  
"So, after we've done this we should go out and get some coffee or some-  
arggghhh!" Tea broke off mid- sentence as she lost her footing on the chair and stumbled; Kaiba darted forward and caught her before she hit the floor.  
Kaiba's leg got caught on the fairy lights and he stumbled backwards as he caught her and landed hard on the floor, dragging Tea down with him.  
He was on the floor and Tea was sprawled on top of him, Tea started howling with laughter and even he couldn't stop the smile from playing on his lips. He reached up and pulled a bit of tinsel out of her hair, Tea carried on giggling at the sight of it. When the laughter subsided they looked at each other for a while, she was still sprawled on top of him.  
Her face inched closer to his, his eyes flicked to her lips and back up to eye level, his heart was beating so fast he wouldn't be surprised if she could feel it underneath her.  
They were so close, their lips millimetres apart, when suddenly a voice from the doorway jolted them to reality.  
"Tea?"  
Tea jumped from him violently; he saw her face whiten as she saw the figure that was stood in the doorway. He knew who it was; he didn't even have to look because he could recognise that stupid voice anywhere. He turned his head towards the doorway, regarding the figure with an ice cold stare.  
"Yugi" he stated coldly.


	7. Accusations and invites

_Okay guys, you may find this chapter a little uneventful, but that's because it's more of a filler chapter which introduces all the events of the next chapter (which is going to be a long one!)  
Sorry for any mistakes I overlooked!_

I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH

_Enjoy!_

* * *

__"Yugi what are you doing here!?" Tea stammered.  
Yugi was stood in the doorway and he didn't look impressed.  
Kaiba got to his feet and grabbed his coat off the sofa; he strode to the door and swept past Yugi, pausing in the doorway to turn back to her.  
"I'll call you later" he said briskly before turning his icy stare to Yugi.  
"Yugi, always a pleasure" he sneered before turning on his heel.  
She jumped as she heard her front door slam shut.  
Silence hung in the air after Kaiba left, she stood playing with the hem of her sweater for a little while; glancing up at Yugi but he was still stood frozen in the doorway.  
Unable to bear the silence any more Tea decided to try and break the ice,  
"It wasn't what it looked like" she tried to explain.  
He shook his head and walked over and slumped down on her sofa, she stood awkwardly for a little while before taking a seat next to him.  
"I came to help with your Christmas decorations" Yugi said quietly, "its December 1st, we always help you decorate your apartment" he carried on.  
She closed her eyes, sweet little Yugi always there to help her.  
"How did you get in the apartment?" she asked.  
"Your door was unlocked" Yugi replied shortly.  
She nodded, "do you want a drink or anything?" she asked.  
Yugi glared at her, "Kaiba, really Tea?" he suddenly stormed.  
She stared at her knees silently, he was on his feet, although he wasn't the tallest of men he towered over her as she remained seated.  
"I haven't heard from you in weeks and here was me thinking it was something I had done but it turns out your just sleeping with Seto Kaiba!" he shouted at her. She jumped out of her seat at his words; it was her turn to be angry at his accusations.  
"For a start I am not sleeping with Kaiba!" she yelled, "I fell and he caught me, nothing happened! Secondly, it's not like you bothered picking up the phone and calling me is it?"  
Yugi opened his mouth to argue, but closed it shaking his head in defeat.  
He sat back on the sofa, Tea felt breathless, her and Yugi never fought.  
She slumped down next to him; he was playing with the cuff of his jacket before glancing at her apologetically.  
"I'm sorry, your right" he mumbled.  
Tea shook her head, smiling sadly.  
"No don't apologise, its fine" she said, squeezing his hand gently.  
He grinned at her, "so, you and Kaiba?" he asked raising his eyebrows.  
"Honestly, nothing happened" she paused before continuing "we've just been hanging out a lot recently."  
She risked a glance in Yugi's direction, trying to gauge his reaction.  
"I was just really surprised, he was the last person I expected to see when I came to see you" he admitted thoughtfully.  
'Yeah, tell me about it' Tea thought to herself privately.

Kaiba was furious, stupid little Yugi, always interrupting and sticking his nose in where it's not wanted. He slammed his fist against the side of his car before closing his eyes and rubbing his temples, thinking about what had happened before Yugi had walked in on them. Nothing had happened, he was being ridiculous, Tea had fallen and he had helped her and that was it. A familiar feeling of disappointment crept in on him.

Tea prepared her and Yugi's drinks; he was in the living room sweeping the bits of tinsel off of her floor. She leaned against the kitchen counter and closed her eyes. All of these close calls with Kaiba were really tiring her out, first at the Halloween party, then at his office and now in her own living room!  
Their lips almost within touching distance, but still remain so far away.  
"Tea, are you okay?" Yugi's voice called from the living room.  
"Yeah I'm fine!" she replied hastily, rushing back in to the living room holding their drinks. She handed Yugi his soda and they both retreated back to the sofa, she inquired what he had been up to recently and he started chatting away about his time at university and the new stock in the game shop.  
Tea nodded along and laughed at appropriate intervals but was only half listening; her mind was a mass of emotions, all of them centered on Seto Kaiba.  
"So what do you think Tea?" Yugi's voice prompted, she blinked back to reality.  
"What did you say Yugi, my mind was just completely elsewhere" she replied guiltily. She saw the look of irritation in his eyes, she couldn't blame him, she knew she hadn't been the greatest of friends to him recently.  
"Go on" she prompted, nudging him gently.  
"I said: Tristan's aunt or grandma or someone has a holiday cabin that's going to be empty next weekend, they said Tristan can go stay there and take all his friends with him, so what do you think?" he asked excitedly.  
She pondered for a moment, a weekend away with her friends did sound like fun,  
"I'm in!" she laughed, Yugi beamed happily.

The days passed Tea in a blur; she had been rushed off her feet with her dancing at university and taking up as many extra shifts at work as she could, so that by the time the day before the big weekend trip to Tristan's family cabin came around she was relieved for the break.  
Letting herself in to her apartment she walked in to her living room, collapsing on the couch. Groaning she pulled her skates from her aching feet, it had been a busy night at work, not to mention she had been dancing all morning so her feet felt like they were literally going to drop off. Heading in to the kitchen she winced at every step her tender feet took, she grabbed a TV dinner from the freezer and slammed it in to the microwave before heading back to the living room. A flashing red light on her answering machine caught her attention, pressing the play button, the robotic female voice mail recording filled the air.  
_'You have three new messages."  
_"Aren't I popular" she muttered aloud.  
"_Playing message one"  
_Joey's voice now replaced the recording:  
"_Hiya Tea, just lettin' you know that we'll be picking ya up at 9oclock in the mornin', it takes around 4 hours to get to the cabin so pack some snacks will ya? Cya then!"  
_She snorted, any snacks that she would bring Joey and Tristan would completely devour in mere seconds.  
_"Playing message two"  
_Yugi's voice started drifting from her machine next:  
_"Hey Tea, we'll be picking you up at 9 in the morning, just in case Joey forgets to ring you to let you know, so erm yeah that's it really, see you in the morning, bye. Oh! And Mai said she can't come because she's got the flu, she told me to tell you she's sorry. Bye then!"  
_Yugi's messaged ended, Tea sighed she was looking forward to a catch up with Mai.  
Once again the robotic voice returned.  
_"Playing message three"  
_Tea started heading back to the kitchen, it was probably just one of the guys again.  
_"It's me, I know I said I would call you but I've been busy"_  
Tea froze as a familiar sharp voice filled the quiet room,  
"_I really hate talking on answering machines, can't you get your cell phone fixed and re-enter the modern world like a normal person?  
Anyway, just call me when you get this. Bye." _  
Kaiba's, obviously annoyed, message ended and Tea was once again left with the silence of her lonely apartment. She couldn't pretend that she wasn't disappointed that Kaiba hadn't called her these past days; she'd repeatedly told herself that he was a CEO of a major co-operation so obviously he must be busy. Never the less, she was pleased he had finally called; grabbing the phone she dialed his number and brought the device to her ear.  
"_What do you want?"_ came his sharp, cold reply.  
"Hi, it's me" she stated nervously.  
"_Oh, hi" _His voice softened noticeably and she couldn't help but feel pleased.  
"Yeah, I got your message, I've just got home from work" she explained.  
"_Yeah I assumed" _was his only response. An awkward silence followed and she racked her brains for something to say.  
"Oh! Just so you know you might not be able to contact me this weekend, me and all the guys are going away to Tristan's family cabin, so.." she trailed off, suddenly feeling foolish for mentioning it. Kaiba remained silent for a while, she couldn't tell what he was thinking, and she hated talking on the phone.  
_"That sounds thrilling" _came his sarcastic response, but she could also hear a bitter tone to his reply, perhaps he was upset?  
"Why don't you come with us?" she blurted out.  
A long pause followed her outburst; she closed her eyes and silently banged her head against the wall.  
_"Are you being serious?" _he sneered,_ "a weekend in a cabin with the Scooby doo gang is the last thing I would ever want to do"  
_She frowned at the receiver, he was being rude, but she hadn't expected anything less.  
"Okay then, why don't you come with me?" she tried tentatively, purposely emphasising the 'me'.  
She could practically hear the internal argument she knew Kaiba would be having with himself.  
"_What time are you all leaving?" _he asked stiffly.  
"9 o'clock in the morning" she replied, crossing her fingers.  
She heard him take a deep breath in,  
"_Okay fine, I'll join you at this stupid cabin, I'll be at your apartment at 8am sharp" _and with that he hung up and left Tea listening to the sound of the dialing tone, half thrilled and half mortified at what the rest of the guys were going to say when they find out who would be taking Mai's place for the weekend.


	8. Pigging out

_Hi everyone!  
I am so sorry about how long it took me to get this up, I've moved house and been working a lot. I also scrapped the idea I was going to do for this chapter because every time I attempted to write it just wouldn't come across how I wanted it to so I changed the direction I was taking it.  
As always my apologies for any mistakes I may have made.  
I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH!_

Enjoy :D

* * *

Tea sat staring mutely out of the window, it was raining heavily outside so the rain pelted against the car window. She glanced at Kaiba; he had his eyes focused on the road and his hands lazily rested against the steering wheel. His eyes flicked to hers and she glared at him before folding her arms and staring back out of the window. They were driving back to Domino City from Tristan's cabin; they had all arrived at the cabin and everything was going well until night time when Joey and Kaiba got in to an argument and Tristan told Kaiba to leave. She didn't fancy the thought of spending the rest of the weekend getting grilled from Joey for inviting Kaiba, so she apologised to the guys and decided to go back to Domino City with Kaiba.  
"You don't have to keep giving me angry looks, I didn't ask you to come back with me" Kaiba said suddenly, still staring at the road.  
Tea sighed, "Yeah I know, I was just really looking forward to the weekend, I hoped you would all get along" she admitted.  
Kaiba nodded but said nothing so Tea returned to watching the rain pelt against the window, it was almost 10pm so it was very dark and the rain was starting to worsen considerably.  
"Visibility is getting really low outside" Kaiba murmured, Tea only just caught what he had said due to the thundering racket of the rain against the car. He quickly reached over and tapped something in to the high tech sat-nav built in to his car, the map showing the route back to domino city had quickly altered itself to another destination.  
"We aren't going back to Domino City?" Tea inquired, raising her voice over the deafening rain.  
"It's going to take another 3 hours to get there; I can't drive in these conditions so we're going to stop at the nearest hotel until morning" he explained, frowning out at the darkness. Tea leaned back in her seat, a feeling of panic suddenly settling in to her stomach, her and Kaiba alone in a hotel together? She squirmed in her seat, luckily Kaiba didn't seem to notice as he was too busy focusing on the, now almost impossible to see, road. About ten minutes later they pulled up outside what looked like a small hotel but it was impossible to tell because of the weather. They jumped out of the car and ran up in to the reception of the building, even though it wasn't far from the car they still ended up sopping wet. Kaiba approached the receptionist while Tea looked around, the reception area was well lit and cosy looking. It reminded Tea slightly of her grandma's house because every surface seemed to be covered in colorful doilies and strange little ornaments. She wandered over to Kaiba who seemed to be giving the frightened looking receptionist a hard time.  
"I want the two best and most expensive rooms you have available" he stated coldly.  
"We only have one deluxe suite available sir" the girl stammered.  
"Well make another available?" Kaiba demanded.  
The girl looked alarmed; she shakily tapped a few keys on her computer before shaking her head.  
"We only have three deluxe suites and two of them are booked, we have a few standard rooms available?" she tried tentatively, but seemed to shrink back at the look Kaiba give her. "Fine we'll just take the one" he snapped, handing her his credit card. It took Tea a while until she realised what this meant, her and Kaiba would be sharing a room together with one bed, her stomach gave a funny jolt at the very thought.

Kaiba dumped his and Tea's bags on the bed in the hotel room, the 'deluxe suite' wasn't up to his standards but it would have to do. The sound of the shower running drifted from the bathroom; he removed his wet tie and threw it over the chair in the corner of the room. He was nervous about the situation that he had landed himself in, he and Tea would have to share a bed tonight and the thought terrified him. The sound of Tea's voice from the bathroom made him jump out of his thoughts.  
"Hey Kaiba could you please pass me my bag?" she called, her arm protruding out of the bathroom, he passed it to her quickly.  
He grabbed his laptop out of his bag and sat with it on the bed, Tea surfaced from the bathroom toweling her hair, she was now dressed in baby pink jogging bottoms and matching hoody. He slammed the lid of his laptop shut furiously, "No Wi-Fi!" he fumed. Tea giggled but her laughter was drowned out by a rumble of thunder, she suddenly looked apprehensive. She edged her way over to the bed and clambered on, sitting cross legged, eyeing him sheepishly.  
"Well, looks like we'll just have to entertain ourselves for a while" Kaiba sighed.  
"We could tell ghost stories?" Tea suggested, Kaiba couldn't tell if she was being serious or not so he just settled with giving her a cold stare. She frowned, "Well, I think we should order a load of room service and just pig out on the bed" she said firmly, before reaching over to the little phone on the bedside cabinet. Kaiba watched her sceptically as she cradled the phone to her ear and dialed the number.  
"Um yeah hi, is this room service? Oh good, um, I'd like some food please" she stammered.  
Kaiba snatched the phone from her, "Seto Kaiba in the deluxe suite room 22, we'll have a six pack of whatever beer you have and as much 'junk food' as you can carry" he stated before hanging up the phone. He saw Tea frowning at him, "don't you ever say please?" she asked. He raised an eyebrow but didn't respond.

Tea sipped her beer before grabbing a handful of jelly sweets from the pile in front of her. Kaiba lounged opposite her, they had been chatting comfortably with each other for the past hour as they steadily made their way through the snacks; Tea enjoyed Kaiba's company and hoped that he enjoyed hers also. He seemed to really be himself around her, humoring her with stories from his company and reminiscing together about all the adventures they used to get themselves in to, even though Kaiba never willingly ever wanted to be a part of them.  
"Did anything ever happen between you and Yami?" Kaiba asked suddenly. Her hand froze in front of the jelly sweets and her eyes snapped to his. She studied his face for a few seconds before sighing.  
"Not really, he left before anything could happen I guess" she admitted, staring determinedly in to her beer, she was hoping that would be the end of it but Kaiba pressed on.  
"What if he hadn't left?" he asked, his voice giving away no emotions.  
She finally looked up in to his eyes, "I don't know" she admitted truthfully. His eyes bore in to hers for what seemed like an age before he eventually looked away. Tea tentatively tried at steering the conversation back to Kaiba's recent work projects which got him started talking about the new gym he was working on, she nodded and listened attentively, but inside she was breathing a sigh of relief.

Kaiba laid on his back staring up at the ceiling; they had disposed of all the sweets and empty beer bottles and turned in for the night. He lay on top of the covers and Tea was sleeping soundly beside him, curled up in a ball under the duvet. He observed her peaceful face which was slightly illuminated by a strip of moonlight creeping in through the curtains; he could hear the slow steady sound of her breathing. Trying not to disturb her he crept off the bed and padded silently to the bathroom, he needed a shower to clear his thoughts. Standing under the cascade of water his mind wandered to Tea and the Pharaoh, he was surprised how angry the thought of them being together made him. He shook his head, the Pharaoh was gone forever so he was being stupid getting himself worked up over nothing, besides it's not like he and Tea were a couple or anything. Grimacing to himself he carried on showering peacefully before quietly returning to the bed. He lie there for what seemed like hours watching Tea sleep until he finally drifted off in to an uneasy slumber.


	9. After 8

_Hi guys, so I know this is long since overdue and I can only apologise for that!  
It's been a crazy busy time for me, I literally haven't had the time to write anything!  
But here it is, better late than never I guess…  
As usual I am sorry for any mistakes, grammatical of otherwise.  
I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH!_

Tea sat up abruptly, breathing heavily and staring wildly around the unfamiliar room she was in. Her memories finally flooded back to her as she spotted Kaiba sound asleep next to her, he was lying on top of the duvet instead of underneath it like she was. Her stomach twinged with disappointment and she lay back on the pillows, breathing out heavily. A stream of sunlight crept in through a small gap in the curtains, announcing that the storm from the previous night had finally passed. Tea crept silently out of the bed and over to the window, peering outside. The temperature had plummeted drastically overnight so the once rain soaked pavement now glinted with frost but the sky was surprisingly clear. Sneaking in to the bathroom she began getting ready swiftly, she wanted to get home soon because Christmas day was looming and she had so much to do. Finally surfacing from the bathroom she noticed that Kaiba was up and awake, his stuff already packed beside him as he typed furiously on his cell phone.  
"Hi" Tea said, announcing her return to the bedroom.  
Kaiba looked up at her, smiling at her briefly.  
"Ready to go?" he asked.  
Tea nodded and slung her bag over her shoulder, following Kaiba out of the hotel room. A few hours later they pulled up outside of Tea's apartment, the weekend had been eventful so she was relieved to be back in Domino. She and Kaiba had chatted briefly on the ride home but Tea had slept most of the way, car journeys really take it out of her. An awkward silence hung in the air while Kaiba drummed his slender fingers on the steering wheel impatiently.  
"Well, bye then" Tea finally announced, frowning slightly.  
Kaiba carried on staring ahead, fingers tapping the steering wheel.  
Tea rolled her eyes and made to leave the car.  
"I'll see you soon no doubt" Kaiba announced, Tea said nothing and jumped out of the car, headed towards her apartment smiling to herself.  
Letting herself in to her apartment she dumped her bags on her bed before heading in to the living room to collapse on to the sofa. The second she sat down her phone started ringing, groaning she heaved herself from the sofa and headed towards the phone.  
"Hello?"  
_"Hi, it's me" _responded Kaiba.  
Tea smiled to herself, "missing me already?" she joked, but Kaiba ignored her and continued: "_Do you fancy going out for a meal tonight?" _ he asked.  
Tea thought for a moment, it was the week before Christmas day and she hadn't done much present shopping or organising. She bit her lip thoughtfully before answering.  
"Sounds great, what time should I be ready for?" she asked.  
"_8pm sharp" _Kaiba replied briskly.  
Tea smiled at his formal manner but before she could say anything he said:  
"_Oh and make sure you wear something appropriate because we are going to a classy place" , _and with that he hung up leaving Tea stood wondering what on earth she was going to wear.

Kaiba pulled up outside the giant building that was his company and stormed through the large glass doors. The receptionist smiled at him tentatively as he swept past her and entered the lift. Reaching the top most floor he passed his assistant Lena who jumped up grabbing her notepad and paper.  
Taking off his white trench coat slowly he began reeling of the list of jobs he needed doing for the day and contacts he needed to get in touch with.  
"Lastly, I need a reservation for two at that new restaurant tonight in Domino square at 8.30", the scratching of Lena's pen stopped and she glanced at him slyly, he glared at her before storming in to his office and slamming the door behind him.

Tea stood in front of her closet wrapped in a big fluffy towel, tapping her finger against her chin as she contemplated all her outfits. The shrill ringing of her house phone alerted her and she rushed in to the living room,  
"hello?" she asked breathlessly.  
"_Gardner you haven't worked a shift in days, where the hell are you?"  
_She rolled her eyes at the sound of her boss's angry tones reverberating through the receiver.  
"I'm sorry Mr Pitman but I've been busy and I haven't had any messages telling me to come in" she replied firmly.  
"_Gardner I expect you to walk in this door in half an hour, understood?"  
_Tea glared furiously at the receiver, "sorry Mr Pitman but I have plans tonight, I'll come in tomorrow morning, goodbye" and before her infuriating boss could respond she had already slammed the phone down. Muttering furiously to herself as she stormed back in to her room, glaring at all her outfits before shutting her closet door irritably and sitting down on the edge of her bed.  
She felt so unlike herself recently, spending time with Kaiba has made her forget about her other commitments. She hadn't been to the gym in days, hadn't picked up any extra shifts at work or even had real time to contact her friends. She contemplated all of this as she picked at a loose bit of thread from her towel before nodding to herself firmly. Standing up she started to the living room, she would ring Kaiba and cancel their dinner tonight and then she would ring Mr Pitman back and tell him she could work tonight, then tomorrow she would contact all the guys and ask them round her place for a few beers. She was in the middle of dialling Kaiba's number when a knock at her front door startled her, putting down the phone she headed to the door, opened it a crack and peered out in to the hall. A well-dressed man stood on the threshold; he regarded her in her towel with a raised eyebrow.  
"Sorry, I wasn't expecting visitors" Tea mumbled, pulling the towel more firmly around her. The man seemed unfazed, although this was a regular occurrence for him. He held out a large white box with a baby pink ribbon wrapped around it. "Parcel for Tea Gardner" he said. Tea gaped at the parcel, opening the door wider to take it from the man. "I didn't order anything" she replied, giving the man a puzzled look. The man eyed her for a moment, "it is from Mr Kaiba, he says it is a gift for you to wear tonight" he explained. Before Tea could respond he had stalked off down the corridor and out of sight. Frowning at the man's rudeness she shut the door and carried the package gingerly in to her bedroom. Placing it on the bed she pulled the ribbon off and lifted the lid open, staring at the contents inside.  
It was a breath-taking floor length dress; made of some sort of floaty satin material and it was a stunning shade of silver. She held it in her hands and carried it over to the mirror, placing it in front of her body as she stared gleefully at it, all thoughts of cancelling the dinner with Kaiba completely forgotten.

8oclock arrived and Kaiba sat in the back of his car with Tea beside him, she was staring out of the window which gave him a chance to look at her properly. She was wearing the dress he had sent her, the stunning silver made her porcelain skin glow slightly, her hair was in some sort of curly up do but she looked amazing. Swallowing slightly he stared down at his hands, they were a little clammy, surely he wasn't nervous? Furious with himself he balled his hands in to fists and glanced out of the car window, away from Tea.  
A gentle pressure on his arm alerted him and he looked around at Tea who was watching him, "thanks for the dress by the way" she whispered, smiling at him serenely. The back of the car was quite dark, except the odd glow from Tea's dress as it caught the light, which was lucky considering he could feel his cheeks glowing hot. "It was nothing, it looks good on you" he replied gruffly.  
She beamed at him, squeezed his arm before releasing it and resting it on her lap before she turned back to the window. Exhaling, Kaiba leaned his head against the headrest of his chair, wishing that she had kept her hand on his arm. They pulled up outside the restaurant and Kaiba held the car door open for Tea who slid gracefully out of the car. They entered the building, the waiter looking nervous at the sight of Kaiba before showing them to their table.

Tea looked around the restaurant, it was elegant and expensive looking, and they had already ordered and been served their food, despite only being there ten minutes. Kaiba had ordered the lobster while she settled on the venison with salad and red wine sauce. They ate their food and Tea listened interestedly as Kaiba explained his new business ideas who in turn seemed genuinely amused in her ramblings about work and university. As they finished their meals the conversation turned back to Christmas.  
"So what are your plans for Christmas then?" Tea asked, taking a sip of her wine. Kaiba snorted, "Haven't I already expressed my distaste for Christmas?" he responded. Tea frowned, "but you've got Mokuba, so surely you'll be doing something with him?" she asked.  
Kaiba circled a slender finger around the rim of his wine glass, "Mokuba is going on a Christmas Skiing trip with his friends or something" he explained, shrugging. So Kaiba was going to be spending his Christmas alone, she would be too considering her parents usually spent Christmas in a hot hotel resort abroad.  
"Why don't you spend Christmas with me?" she blurted out, her cheeks burning. Kaiba's eyes snapped up to hers, "won't you be spending it with family?" he asked, eyeing her suspiciously.  
"My parents tend to go to the hottest place they can find at Christmas, leaving me to spend it with my Gran but she passed away last year so it's just me this year" she replied simply.  
"I see" Kaiba replied. Tea studied his face, trying to fathom his expression.  
Seconds ticked by painfully slow as Tea cursed herself in her mind.  
"Okay then, I suppose we should spend it with each other seeing as though we'll be alone anyway" Kaiba finally said, looking intently in to his wine glass.  
Tea couldn't help but grin, "it'll be great! We'll bake cookies and make the Christmas dinner and watch crappy TV" she rambled excitedly as Kaiba rolled his eyes, smirking slightly.

Kaiba listened to Tea talk excitedly all the way back to her apartment door about how much fun they'll have together at Christmas. He was much too amused at her face shining with glee that he didn't have the heart to cut her down with a sarcastic remark. He just nodded, smirking as she went on. They stopped outside of her door and she turned to him. He stared in to her bright blue eyes and then focused on the movement of her soft looking lips as she continued:  
"..and if it snows we'll be able to make a snowman and then.."  
But Kaiba cut her off as he brushed his lips gently against hers.


End file.
